Jean Illingworth – Social entrepreneur at work
The soul food of SVA is when we get to see what happens on the ground and watch great social entrepreneurs do their work.
I had the opportunity to attend the presentation day of Djarragun College recently, an Indigenous school south of Cairns that is home to 600 Torres Strait Islander and aboriginal kids. The principal, Jean Illingworth, took over a run down and demoralised campus eight years ago and has transformed it into a beacon of opportunity, belief and educational achievement. Funded by SVA friend and supporter Tony Berg who is now a Djarragun board member, SVA did some consulting work last year that highlighted the effectiveness of the school and how Jean had put in place a model of support and delivery that raised the bar in terms of expectations and is delivering astonishing outcomes. Read her presentation address [PDF File size: 57KB] and you will understand what her philosophy is. To witness the pride, belief and achievement that radiated from the faces of graduating students, and then see an hour and a half of extraordinary cultural celebration as the Islander students – backed by parents and family – performed Indigenous dances, was an inspiring and moving demonstration of that philosophy put into practice.
Jean has worked hard to ensure that the values embedded from the school create the kind of work, study and life opportunities after graduation that reflect the potential of young adults at the school. She has asked us to do further work to assist in this area and Lisa George will be spending time early in the New Year to develop this important project.
There was a wonderful moment that captured the essence of Jean’s work. As a social entrepreneur, Jean is not shy of taking risks. One such experiment last year involved 23 Djarragun students spending a week at the International Hospitality School at Manly – a great experience for the students and one which so impressed the manager of the school that he has offered two scholarships to support Djarragun students undertake a one year diploma course – a virtual guarantee of quality employment opportunity. He was there to present the awards. At a brief meeting before the presentation ceremony was due to start, I watched Jean masterfully negotiate an additional scholarship which reflected the pressing need she saw to create an employment path for one more student. Uriel is a student finishing school she knows has enormous potential but who had been really struggling with a challenging home situation that he was desperate to get away from.
Urial is a big, shy young man, although the shyness disappears when he is on the stage to dance and he joins the powerful and rhythmical moves of his Indigenous schoolmates with liquid ease. I watched Urial’s response when the scholarship was announced. He looked up in disbelief, as though there had been some sort of mistake. And then he quietly beamed with the recognition that the scholarship was really for him.
I spoke to him after the presentation about the opportunity and what it meant to him.
‘I think this will be great,’ he said.
Economic opportunity.
Social connection.
Personal significance.
Magic.
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